KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — No. 11 Tennessee overcame a slow start, exploding for 28 second-quarter points on its way to a 56-0 shutout of UTEP in front of a sellout crowd of 101,915 on Senior Day at Neyland Stadium.
UT running back Dylan Sampson, the Maxwell Award and Doak Walker semifinalist, finished with 77 yards and a score on 11 carries and two receptions for 25 yards. With his second-quarter touchdown run, the junior from Baton Rouge, La., passed Gene McEver for the most TDs (22) and points (132) in a season by a Vol. Those respective school records were both established 95 years ago by McEver (21 touchdowns, 130 points) during the 1929 campaign.
With the win, the Vols (9-2) improved to 7-0 on their home turf this season and recorded their 14th-consecutive triumph over a non-conference opponent. The Miners, who outgained UT in total yards in the first quarter, 76-37, before the home team started clicking, fell to 2-9 on the season.
After struggling to find its rhythm over the opening 10 minutes, the Big Orange hit its stride in the second period to put the game away. It dominated UTEP in total yardage, 189-52, averaging nine yards per play and tallying four touchdowns. Quarterback Nico Iamaleava went 10 of 12 passing during that spree, racking up 133 yards and three scoring tosses. The redshirt freshman signal-caller finished the day 17 of 23 for 209 yards with a career-high four passing TDs.
Redshirt senior wide receiver Bru McCoy led the Tennessee receiving corps with four catches for 37 yards and two scores. Not only did McCoy record his first touchdown of the season, he carded the first multi-touchdown game of his career. Freshman running back Peyton Lewis joined McCoy in the two-score club, rushing for a pair while carrying seven times for 46 yards.
Defensively, the Vols limited the Miners to 230 total yards and only 81 on the ground, racking up four sacks, five quarterback hurries and 15 tackles for losses. Junior LEO James Pearce Jr. had two sacks to run his season total to 7.5 and his career tally to 19.5. Sophomore cornerback Jermod McCoy and sophomore safety John Slaughter came up with interceptions, while freshman STAR Boo Carter had a team-high six tackles and aided special teams with 61 yards on three flashy punt returns.
After UTEP’s Joe Bowman came up well short on a 49-yard field goal attempt with 1:22 to go in the first quarter, the game went into the second frame scoreless. The Vols were finally able to get on the scoreboard, however, punctuating a nine-play, 68-yard drive that began with that missed kick. Sampson’s 14-yard, record-setting scamper up the middle was the capper, and Max Gilbert’s PAT gave the Vols a 7-0 lead with 13:22 left in the half.
The defense set their offensive teammates up for another score midway through the second period, when sophomore Vols cornerback Ricky Gibson III stripped the ball from receiver Trey Goodman, and redshirt senior defensive end Dominic Bailey was there to recover at the UTEP 36. Four plays later, Iamaleava fired a screen pass to junior wideout Squirrel White in the flats, and White raced nine yards into the end zone. Gilbert’s point-after boosted the advantage to 14-0 with 7:33 remaining before the half.
Tennessee put points on the board again after an 18-yard punt return from Carter set the Vols up at the UTEP 19 with 2:40 on the clock. After snaring a pass from Iamaleava and rumbling down to the one-yard-line, redshirt freshman tight end Ethan Davis scored on the next play via a one-yard TD toss. Gilbert’s PAT made it 21-0, Big Orange, with 2:19 remaining in the second period.
After a Pearce Jr. sack of quarterback JP Pickles ended a late UTEP drive at the UT 46 with 1:01 to go, Tennessee needed only six plays to tack on to its second-quarter outburst. Iamaleava found McCoy open in the back corner of the end zone from 18 yards out, and Gilbert’s kick increased the gap to 28-0 to close out the first half.
The Big Orange scoring frenzy continued in the third frame with a repeat McCoy score, this time on a seven-yard pass with 13:32 remaining. UT added a three-yard run from Lewis at the 8:09 mark and his second score with 1:30 to go to take a 48-0 lead into the fourth quarter.
Tennessee padded its margin in the final frame, as sophomore running back Cameron Seldon recorded his first career touchdown on a three-yard run to make it 56-0 and close out the game’s scoring.
UP NEXT
Tennessee will be in Nashville next Saturday to take on Vanderbilt at FirstBank Stadium in the final game of the regular season. Kickoff is slated for noon ET (11 a.m. CT) with the contest televised by ABC and carried on the Vol Network via radio stations statewide as well as on UTSports.com. Coverage begins at 10am on 99.5FM WGRV and 103.1FM WIKQ
